Celebrating 20 Years of GAMA Healthcare: Our Story

This month, GAMA Healthcare celebrates 20 years of helping prevent infections to save and improve lives. It’s been an incredible journey, one that began in 2004 with two doctors at the Royal Free Hospital in London, Guy Braverman and Allen Hanouka.

Back then, Guy and Allen were like every other doctor—busy, overworked, and using the same stethoscope on multiple patients without a second thought. Infection prevention wasn’t really a “thing” back then, and the idea that shared equipment could transmit infections wasn’t widely accepted. But to them, it just made common sense. Surely shared patient equipment could spread infections?

What they needed was a simple, effective solution to clean and disinfect shared medical equipment, one that could be used quickly and easily right at the point of care. And with that, the idea for Clinell Universal Wipes was born—a product that cleans and disinfects in one step. But ideas are just the beginning. They needed someone who could turn it into a reality, and that’s when they met Adrian Fellows, a wet wipe formulation expert who helped develop the perfect formula.

By 2005, they had the formula, the product, and even a brand name: Clinell. It was time to get out there and start making a difference. So they quit their jobs and went all in. Armed with their story and a lot of determination, they knocked on doors at hospitals across England. Back then, infection prevention departments were just emerging, and many infection control nurses immediately understood what Guy and Allen were talking about. Their first big break came in January 2006 when the Royal Marsden Hospital became Clinell Universal Wipes’ first customer.

From the start, Guy and Allen didn’t want GAMA to be just a wet wipe company—they wanted it to be an infection prevention company. That meant going beyond making great products. They committed to offering three key things:

1. Unique, patented products
2. Clinical proof that their products worked in the real world
3. Unrivalled support for customers, including training and audit services

Fast forward 20 years, and that approach has made GAMA a global leader in infection prevention. Clinell Universal Wipes are now used a staggering 86 times every second, every day, across the world. Our training solutions have educated over 200,000 nurses, and our commitment to evidence-based solutions has led to some amazing results. This year, a major study published in The Lancet (https://www.thelancet.com/article/S1473-3099(24)00399-2/abstractproved) definitively proved what Guy and Allen believed all those years ago—daily disinfection of shared patient equipment with Clinell Universal Wipes reduces hospital-acquired infections by 34.5%.

From a tiny, serviced office at Staples Corner, London, GAMA has grown into a team of over 200 people with offices in the UK, Spain, China, and Australia. But we’ve never forgotten our roots or the people who made it all possible. 

From the nurses and doctors who believed in Guy and Allen’s vision to the customers, suppliers and colleagues who’ve been part of this journey, we owe everything to you.

So here’s to 20 years of innovation, hard work, and making a difference. And here’s to the future—we’re just getting started.